Journal pudge's Journal: "I Hate Gay People" 14
Tim Hardaway, a former NBA star I've always liked and respected, said some pretty hateful things upon learning of another former NBA player who came out of the closet.
Hardaway said he would have a problem with having a gay teammate, and said, "I hate gay people."
That's sad, but what's more sad to me than the sentiment expressed is the extremism I see in society. And I don't mean that it is extreme to think homosexuality is a sin. That's not extreme, that's normal. It's also normal to think homosexuality is not a sin.
But what bothers me is most is the response to this, which has mostly taken the form of some people saying Hardaway is right, and everyone else saying he is flatly wrong. The debate makes it seem like you have to either hate homosexuality, or think there's nothing wrong homosexuality, and that there's no room for anything in between.
Whatever happened to disagreeing with someone's lifestyle, but still treating that person just like every other human being deserving of respect? It's the same sort of nonsense we see in the political realm. You want universal health care, so you're a communist. I do not want universal health care, so I am a racist baby-hater.
I'm not defending Hardaway at all. His comments disappointed me, but not because he thinks homosexuality is wrong, but because he is apparently incapable of expressing that view in a way consistent with the perpetuation of a pluralistic society like America's.
United we stand, divided we fall, and we are getting more and more divided every year. When America falls, it won't be because of fascism or communism, it will be because we have so few real problems in our lives that we spend too much time worrying about our differences with our neighbors and pretending that they really matter.
I am not blameless in this myself, but my many opinionated liberal friends can attest that I do not dislike people because of their lifestyle or beliefs, generally speaking (I suppose I may find Osama Bin Laden impossible to befriend, but I've never met him or anyone who shares his views that I should be killed, as far as I know).
I don't want everyone to be like me, or agree with me. If the GOP dominance of the last 12 years has taught us anything, it's that we need pluralism. We need people who disagree with the religious right, and we need people who disagree with the Republicans. Hell, we probably even need communists like Marxist Hacker 42, just to remind us how crazy their views really are.
I remember how depressed I was when Le Pen won the first round of elections in France a few years back, and some of my French friends said they were sickened at the thought that some of their neighbors voted for him, especially considering that the reason Le Pen won is because people were trying to stave off an increasingly pluralistic society (as he primarily represented anti-immigration views), and yet to be sickened by it was to decry pluralism too.
Le Pen's victory and the reaction to it just shows that intolerance of differences is not unique to any particular portion of the political spectrum. Every side is guilty of it. But we're going to have an extremely difficult time surviving if we don't turn the tide on this.
I dunno. Maybe there is no solution. Maybe we're all just screwed. Or maybe Sunday School and The Beatles were right and the only solution is Love, in which case, maybe we're still all screwed.
So disappointed (Score:1)
French friends? Now THAT'S too pluralistic for me! Obviously, since you associate with such people, you hate America....
Respect (Score:2)
In the anti-gay community it never existed. Maybe now with such an explicit example some of those who do hate gay people but don't use such blunt language will look in the mirror and see that they too are guilty.
Re: (Score:2)
Whatever happened to disagreeing with someone's lifestyle, but still treating that person just like every other human being deserving of respect?
In the anti-gay community it never existed.
It depends on what you mean by "anti-gay."
If you mean "people who think homosexuality is sinful," you're simply wrong. By that standard, I am anti-gay, but you cannot make the argument that I treat people as you say the "anti-gay community" does. So too with many of my friends. Not to pull a Colbert, but I have a lot of gay friends. And I honestly do not treat any of them differently than anyone else. Yes, I think homosexuality is sinful, but I know myself pretty well, and I have my own sins. Why sho
Re: (Score:2)
Black and white (Score:2)
This reminds me a bit of a 2002 use Perl; journal entry [perl.org] of mine, in which I talked about how frustrating it was to listen to talk radio during the debate over a smoking ban in Dallas, in which the host [wikipedia.org] kept trying to say that while smoking was bad people had the right to make decisions about their own private property, but couldn't find a caller who would say anything other than, "But you don't understand: smoking is bad! Therefore it should be banned!" Nobody could see it in terms other than black and wh
Re: (Score:2)
I got on Mark Davis's show a few years ago, though it was to state that TCU, who was 8-0 at the time, didn't belong in a BCS bowl because they hadn't played anyone. He responded that I was under the premise that TCU would get waxed by the top 5 - I told him no, I thought they'd get waxed by anyone in the top 15 - and instead of using my beloved Buckeyes as an example, I told him that I thought Michigan State (with Jeff Smoker as QB) would whip TCU. Boy were some TCU
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, you're one of those people always distracting my favorite local talk shows with sports! Just kidding.
Yep, DFW, born and raised.
Premises (Score:1)
Anyway. Onwards.
1) In general, people understand "sin" to describe a human failure whereby one chose to commit harm, to oneself, to others, or to G
Re: (Score:2)
1) In general, people understand "sin" to describe a human failure whereby one chose to commit harm, to oneself, to others, or to God. I realize that God can simply define any random thing as sinful, but in Christianity, most sins are acts that anyone would recognize as harmful.
Not sure where you ever got that idea. It's not at all accurate. Look at the Ten Commandments. Are not worshipping any other gods, taking the name of the Lord in vain, having idols, keeping the Sabbath holy, things "anyone would recognize as harmful"? Harm does not have to be obvious for something to be sinful. That doesn't even make sense. Sin is defined as that which separates us from God. As God is what he is, how could all the ways in which we can be separated from God be obvious? If all sin we
Re: (Score:1)
You felt that society was becoming intolerant of your views on homosexuality, and that there was no other position than being labelled a hater. I wanted to correct
Re: (Score:2)
You felt that society was becoming intolerant of your views on homosexuality, and that there was no other position than being labelled a hater.
I don't think I expressed that, and I don't recall feeling that way.
To the other side, your arguments look so indefensible, they assume you must have a hidden agenda.
Yes, to people who don't understand them, which is why I go out of my way to explain them as much as I can. :-)
Could you elaborate on the Holy Spirit concept here? I was raised in a Catholic milieu, but there wasn't a great deal of emphasis on this.
You seem to be saying that unless one received the Holy Spirit (during a born-again ceremony?) one will not have even the desire to conform to the laws of God? Or, that the Holy Spirit will be a sort of inner guide, and people who don't perform this ritual simply don't have this inside them?
It is not a ritual thing. Every Christian has the Holy Spirit in them. And every non-Christian does not. As to the desire thing, I think everyone has the desire to conform to the laws of God, but no one is able to do so on their own.
That was part of what the Law taught us: that none of us is able to, of our own power, be "goo
Re: (Score:1)
* Non-Christians do not have the Holy Spirit within them.
* Every Christian does have the Holy Spirit. (How are you defining Christian here, by the way? Baptized? Confirmed? Only Pentecostals? Do Catholics count?).
* The Holy Spirit is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to being able to follow the Law.
* God's will plus the Holy Spirit enables Christians to follow the Law.
Okay, if I've got this right, I'm starting to see how you're fine with divine deman
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
How are you defining Christian here, by the way?
Those who believe that God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, and that he was raised from the dead, and that have accepted Jesus as their personal lord and savior. No specific ritual is required, and no specific sect or denomination matters.
The Holy Spirit is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition to being able to follow the Law.
Well, not really. I noted it is arguable that it is possible to follow the Law without the Spirit. And I also noted that just because you have the Spirit doesn't mean you'll follow the Law. The point is not the Law, but the heart. The Law was in